LT: 85 percent sure he'll play in preseason

LaDainian Tomlinson has been held out of exhibition games in recent years, but said Monday this year could be different. "I wouldn't rule out me playing," he said.<br/>
<em>K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune</em>
— K.C. Alfred

LaDainian Tomlinson has been held out of exhibition games in recent years, but said Monday this year could be different. "I wouldn't rule out me playing," he said.
K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune
— K.C. Alfred

Tomlinson has voiced a desire to play every August, but he has not touched a ball in the preseason since Aug. 21, 2005. He has just 14 carries in his eight career preseasons.

“This year could be different,” Tomlinson said. “I wouldn't rule out me playing.”

Asked which of the four exhibition games he might play in, Tomlinson said, “It's always good to play at home in front of the home crowd. I'll leave it at that.”

The Chargers open the preseason Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks at Qualcomm Stadium, then play two straight road games.

It is possible coach Norv Turner could wait until the Chargers host the San Francisco 49ers in the Sept. 4 exhibition finale to insert Tomlinson. Starters play only a handful of plays, if any, in the final exhibition.

Tomlinson said he'd need no more than a half-dozen plays to help him get ready for the regular season. If Turner plays him, even that many snaps would seem unlikely.

While Turner said, “I haven't thought about it,” he and Tomlinson have spoken on the subject.

Pressed later, Turner did not rule out Tomlinson playing in the preseason.

“I've got a plan,” Turner said. “I don't need to talk about it.”

What Tomlinson hopes to accomplish is “getting up to tempo,” following blocks, reading defenders, hitting the hole.

“It will definitely make my timing a lot better,” Tomlinson said.

The statistics don't bear out that Tomlinson's first two games of each season are any consistently less productive than the other 14. He gained 97 yards on 21 carries in last year's opener before injuring his toe late in the game. He did average just 1.9 yards a carry in the first two games of '07, though he did go on to lead the league in rushing that season. In '06, he started the season with 202 yards on 50 carries through two games, en route to a season in which he led the league in rushing and set the NFL record for touchdowns.

Tomlinson has in the past expressed frustration at not playing in the summer, but he said a talk with Marty Schottenheimer in 2006 helped him see it from a coach's perspective.

“I think it comes down to a long year,” Tomlinson said. “They want to have me fresh and continuing to run hard late in December and into January.”

He said, smiling, that taking a handful of snaps in August would not affect his fitness at season's end. But Tomlinson also acknowledged what is Turner's biggest concern (as well as Schottenheimer's before Turner).

“You see guys get hurt in the preseason and then miss time in the regular season,” Tomlinson said. “That's nothing I worry about, but it does happen.”

Tomlinson's vision is bigger than himself, too.

He looks at his ability to perhaps help the Chargers avoid the slow starts that have beset them the past two seasons, when they have gone 1-3 and 0-2. He said he felt like he's left some possible big gains on the field by not being acclimated to game speed.

“It could help us start quicker,” he said. “I have felt I haven't gotten the runs I could a few times in those first couple games (of a season).”